Racers pull off 71-68 comeback over Loyola in Hawaii

The Murray State Racers snapped a 4-game losing streak with a 71-68 comeback victory on Christmas Day over the Loyola Chicago Ramblers in their final of three games at the 15th annual Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

Murray State took advantage of balanced scoring featuring four Racers in double-figures. Terence Harcum and KyeRon Lindsay led the way for MSU with 16 points each, while AJ Ferguson and JaCobi Wood each added 11 points.

Trailing 36-34 at the halftime intermission, the Racers fell behind by 11 points only 2:30 into the second half, but they found a rally.

Five times, the Racers cut the Ramblers lead to three points, until finally it was Harcum's 3-pointer at 3:30 left that put Murray State into the lead for the rest of the game.

Coupled with their 1997 Christmas Day win over Arkansas, the Racers are 2-0 in their 100-year history when competing on Christmas Day.

The Racers (7-6) get back to Missouri Valley Conference competition on Jan. 2 when they host Illinois State at the CFSB Center in a 7 p.m. tipoff.

When they get home,the Racers will seek to improve on their 3-point shooting efforts. Over three games in Hawaill, Murray State hit 29 percent (20-of-70), while their opponents hit 30 percent (14-of-47).


(Photo Dave Winder/MSU Athletics)